Women

The fourth sanctioned Women's World Championships, held in Kitchener, Ontario (Can.) from March 31 to April 6, 1997. With women's hockey being accepted as a full medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the world championships served as a qualifier with
the top five teams joining host Japan at the 1998 games in Nagano. Top two teams (*) in each pool after preliminary round-robin advanced to the medal round. Remaining four teams played in the qualifying round for the final Olympic berth.